Athens, GA-based psych-folk collective
Summer Hymns was formed in 1997 by singer/guitarist
Zach Gresham and drummer
Philip Brown, who previously teamed in the group
Joe Christmas.
Masters of the Hemisphere guitarist
Bren Mead completed the original lineup, with
Of Montreal's
Derek Almstead and
Dottie Alexander soon joining on bass and keyboards, respectively; multi-instrumentalist
Adrian Finch, also of
Masters of the Hemisphere, signed on prior to the release of the debut
Summer Hymns single, the Made in Mexico release "Half Sick of Shadows." The group's first full-length effort, Voice Brother and Sister, followed in 2000.
Celebratory Arm Gesture appeared in spring 2001, their second for Misra. A year later,
Summer Hymns became a quartet with
Gresham,
Brown, and Matt Dawson (bass, banjo, mandolin, keyboards) and Matt Stoessel (pedal steel, guitar). With a new lineup,
Summer Hymns joined
Lambchop's
Mark Nevers for the recording of a third album. The glossy country cheer of
Clemency arrived in mid-summer 2003 while stateside shows kept the momentum going until the year's end. When the band wasn't scheduled to perform,
Gresham kept busy by writing new songs; those sessions were collected for
Summer Hymn's first EP,
Value Series, Vol. 1: Fools Gold (2004). Two years later, with a second shift in band personnel under their belt,
Summer Hymns released
Backward Masks. It featured the debut of ex-
Pine State bassist
Chris Riser.